Professor: Daniel Levin
Office: OSH 210D
Phone: 801-587-9096
Email: daniel.levin[at]utah.edu
Office Hours:
Wed: 11-12 am
Tues: 2-3 pm
Thur: 10:45-11:45am
or by appointment
http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~dlevin/
Political Science 6025: American Political Thought
Spring 2015, Wed 2-5 pm, OSH 208
This course will survey the history of political and social thought in the United States from the arrival of English
speaking peoples until the present day through an exploration of writings, speeches, and letters. But like any survey of
such an extensive period that encompasses such diverse literatures and possibilities, this course has been constructed
from conscious choices in terms of what to include and exclude. For this semester, I have placed foremost the question
of how the American political tradition has made its piece with American economic history. While the most persistent
American economic system has been capitalism, we will take pains to note the other systems which were present in
early America, mercantilism and slavery, and we will be especially careful to denote how changes in the forms of
American capitalism manifest themselves in American political arguments. We will also read authors who are often
read for other purposes (say, Thoreau on nature and Betty Friedan on feminism) in terms of their encounter with
capitalism and mass society. This course is also notable for what it leaves out or treats too minimally: race, gender,
religion, immigration, the Civil War and Reconstruction, federalism, Imperialism, and foreign relations. These are
conscious choices made because of the lack of time to achieve all goals and to shape a coherent narrative that reaches
from the Founding to the present. No one regrets the neglect of these issues more than myself.
Assigned Books: The primary text for our discussions is Isaac Kramnick and Theodore J. Lowi, American
Political Thought: A Norton Anthology, W.W. Norton, 2008 (ISBN: 978-039392886 ). All readings not otherwise
indicated may be found in that text. There are four additional required texts: Daniel Bell, The Cultural
Contradictions of Capitalism (Basic Books, ISBN: 978-0465014996); Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (Dover
Thrift, ISBN: 858- 1000011187); Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (Penguin, ISBN: 978-0140481341); Henry
David Thoreau, Walden and Civil Disobedience (Signet Classics, ISBN: 978-0451532169); and Alexis de
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. by Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (University of Chicago
Press, ISBN: 978-0226805368). Additional readings will be found in Canvas.
Course Requirements:
The format of this course will require a great deal of reading and participation in classroom discussion. There will
also be four short (approx. 5 page) required papers. The central assignment for this writing intensive course is a
research paper of approx. 20 pages. By Feb. 11, you must submit an executive summary, which will contain no
more than two paragraphs describing your intended subject and including your thesis along with a preliminary
bibliography. I must approve your proposal before you proceed. Instructions for the research paper are on Canvas.
Student participation in class discussion will be a large portion of your final grade, and attendance is necessary. I
expect that you will complete ALL of the assigned reading BEFORE the class for which it was assigned and
reserve the right to call on anyone at anytime.
Participation
Date Assigned
Date Due
20%
First Essay
January 28
February 6 by noon
10%
Second Essay
February 25
March 4 by noon
10%
Third Essay
April 1
April 10 by noon
10%
Final Essay
April 22
May 1 by 5 pm
10%
Research Paper
Jan. 14
April 22 (exec summary by 2/11)
40%
Electronic Devices: The use of laptop computers, tablets, and cellphones during class is strictly
prohibited. For an explanation of this policy, please see here.
Academic Misconduct: All quotes must be cited as such and include a clear reference to the work from which they
were drawn; they will otherwise be treated as plagiarism. All use of materials other than course materials must be
accompanied by full citations. All work in this course is assigned as individual work; working as groups or teams is
strongly discouraged (and may be treated as cheating), as is all but the most casual assistance from others; this
includes spouses and other family members. If you intend to submit a paper which significantly draws upon work
for another class, you must first receive explicit permission to do so from both myself and the other instructor. Any
form of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the course and other disciplinary action, up to
expulsion from the University. Please note that you should keep a copy of your work. When working on a
computer, always make a back-up; computer malfunction is not an excuse.
Accommodation of Sincerely Held Beliefs: I will work with students who require schedule changes due to
religious or other significant obligations. I will not consider requests based on course content. Because the history
of American politics has included many debates over race, sexuality, religious practice and belief, and political
ideology, any class that did not address such issues would be substantially limited. Students are required to attend
all classes and to read all assignments. All assignments and lectures are related to our subject matter, and I do not
include gratuitously salacious material. If you have any objection to the frank and open discussion of any of the
topics above, including the use of adult language when appropriate to subject matter, please drop the class.
Policy on Late Papers, Unsubmitted Work and Incompletes: Papers will be accepted until 5 pm on the date due.
Late papers will lose one stepped grade (i.e. B+ → B) if submitted within a week of date due; papers will not be
accepted after a week. Failure to complete any assignment will result in failure of the course. A grade of Incomplete
is only available in cases of documented emergency or medical condition. Papers must be submitted both in
hard copy and through Canvas. To encourage multiple drafts and proper proofreading, all submissions must
have a marked, edited print version of an earlier draft stapled to the final draft.
Americans with Disabilities Act Notice: Persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations to meet the
expectations of this course should provide reasonable prior notice to the instructor and to the Center for Disability
Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD) to make arrangements. Written material in this course can
be made available in alternative format with prior notification.
January 14 - The Protestant Self
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography
Cotton Mather, A Christian at His Calling, 52
Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth, 53; Information to Those Who Would Remove to
America, 66
Canvas: from Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
January 21 - Federalists and Anti-Federalists
Alexander Hamilton, Letter to James Duane, 163
The Constitution of the United States, 170
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, The Federalist Papers, 191-244
(esp. Federalists 9, 10, 39, 48, and 51)
Richard Henry Lee, Letters from the Federal Farmer, 248
Robert Yates, Essays of Brutus, 256
George Washington, Farewell Address, 319
Thomas Jefferson, To Elbridge Gerry, 364; To Samuel Kercheval, 372
Canvas: Christopher Duncan, “Men of a Different Faith”
Richard Matthews, from If Men were Angels
3
January 28 - The Argument over Improvements and the Size of the National State
Alexander Hamilton, First Report on the Public Credit, 297; Opinion on the
Constitutionality of the Bank, 304; Report on Manufactures, 309
John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland, 327
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 342-344; Opinion on the
Constitutionality of the Bank, 348; To Reverend James Madison, 358
Henry Clay, Speech on the Tariff, 389
John Quincy Adams, First Annual Message to Congress, 392
Andrew Jackson, First Annual Message to Congress, 419; Veto of Maysville Road Bill,
424; Bank Veto Message, 427
Daniel Webster, Speech on Jackson’s Veto of the United States Bank Bill, 443
Canvas: Drew McCoy, from The Elusive Republic
John Larson, from Internal Improvement
February 4 – Government and Economy in Jacksonian America
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, pgs. 53-93, 165-186, 199-216, 479-576, 661-776
Canvas: Sheldon Wolin, from Tocqueville Between Two Worlds
February 11 - The Transcendentalist Challenge to Capitalist Mass Society
Henry David Thoreau, Walden and Civil Disobedience
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance, 471; Politics, 476
Henry David Thoreau, Life without Principle, 491
Canvas: Diggins, “Locke, Calvinism, and the Transcendentalist Negation”
February 18 - Free Labor, Slavery and Union
Orestes Brownson, “The Laboring Classes,” 456
Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas, 497
Thomas Jefferson, from Notes on the State of Virginia, 546
William Lloyd Garrison, Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 559
Frederick Douglass, Lectures on Slavery, 591; “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” 594
Harriet Beecher, Stowe, from Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, 598
John C. Calhoun, Speeches on Slavery, 601; Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions, 604;
George Fitzhugh, from Cannibals All!, or, Slaves Without Masters, 636
James Henry Hammond, “Mud Sill” Speech, 647
Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Peoria, Illinois, 649; Speech on the Dred Scott Decision in
Springfield, Illinois, 654; Cooper Union Address, 666; New Haven Address, 667; First
Inaugural Address, 668; Address to Congress, 676; Gettysburg Address, 683; Second
Inaugural Address, 684
Thurgood Marshall, “The Constitution’s Bicentennial,” 1433
4
February 25 - The Gilded Age and Populism
William Graham Sumner, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other, 703
Andrew Carnegie, “The Gospel of Wealth,” 730
Russell H. Conwell, “Acres of Diamonds,” 737
Henry Demarest Lloyd, Wealth Against Commonwealth, 764
Lester Ward, Sociocracy, 773; Plutocracy and Paternalism 779
James Baird Weaver, “A Call to Action,” 791
National People’s Party Platform, 801
Lorenzo Dow Lewelling, Speech at Huron Place, 806
William Jennings Bryan, The “Cross of Gold” Speech, 809
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., “Dissent in Lochner v. New York,” 1052
Canvas: Hofstadter, from Social Darwinism in American Thought
March 4 - Radicalism, Labor, Muckrakers, and the Social Gospel
Benjamin Tucker, Liberty, 816
Emma Goldman, Anarchism: What It Really Stands For, 818
Daniel De Leon, Reform or Revolution, 828
Eugene V. Debs, Unionism and Socialism, 834; Speech to the Jury, 840
Samuel Gompers, The American Labor Movement, 848
Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities, 988
Upton Sinclair, from The Jungle,
Monsignor John Ryan, A Living Wage, 1001
Jane Addams, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, 1002
Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis, 1007
March 11 - The Progressive Era
Charles Beard, The Economic Basis of Politics, 1017
John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems, 1036; Liberalism and Social Action, 1156
Walter Lippman, from Public Opinion, 1058
Herbert Croly, The Promise of American Life, 1065
Theodore Roosevelt, “The New Nationalism,” 1086
Louis Brandeis, “The Living Law,” 1095; “Industrial Absolutism and Democracy,” 1099
Woodrow Wilson, "The New Freedom," 1102
Canvas: Louis Brandeis, “A Curse of Bigness”
Ronald J. Pestritto, “Roosevelt, Wilson and the Democratic Theory of National Progressivism”
Eldon J. Eisenach, “Some Second Thoughts on Progressivism and Rights”
March 25 - The New Deal
Herbert Hoover, “The Challenge to Liberty,” “The Fifth Freedom,” 1141-1147
Charles A. Beard, “The Myth of Rugged American Individualism,” 1147-1156
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “Commonwealth Club Speech,” “First Inaugural Address,”
“Annual Message to Congress,” “The Four Freedoms,” “A Second Bill of
Rights,” 1170-1190
Walter Lippman, “Planning in an Economy of Abundance,” 1206
Canvas: Philip Abbott, from The Exemplary Presidency
Russell Hanson, from The Democratic Imagination in America
5
April 1 - Mad Men: The Post War Problematic
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1344
Canvas: Daniel Reisman, Nathan Glazer, from The Lonely Crowd
William Whyte, from The Organization Man
April 8 - Defining Americanism: Anticommunism and the 1960s
Reinhold Niebuhr, from The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, 1211
Arthur M. Schlessinger, Jr. “What Is Loyalty? A Difficult Question,” 1222
William F. Buckley, from God and Man at Yale, 1228
Whittaker Chambers, from Witness, 1231
Louis Hartz, “The Concept of a Liberal Society,” 1247
Barry Goldwater, from The Conscience of a Conservative, 1256
C. Wright Mills, from The Power Elite, 1264; "Letter to the New Left," 1273
Daniel Bell, "The End of Ideology," 1277
Young Americans for Freedom, “The Sharon Statement,” 1281
Students for a Democratic Society, “The Port Huron Statement,” 1290
Mario Savio, “An End to History,” 1301
April 15 - The Great Society and Reaction
Robert Dahl, from Who Governs?, 1282
John Rawls, from A Theory of Justice, 1370
Irving Kristol, “Capitalism, Socialism, and Nihilism,” 1381
Robert Nozick, from Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 1391
Milton Freedman, from Free to Choose, 1411
Michael J. Sandel, “The Public Philosophy of Contemporary Liberalism,” 1477
Amitai Etzioni, “Communitarianism and the Moral Dimension,” 1511
Web: Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Great Society
Web: Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address
Canvas: Daniel Rodgers, from The Age of Fracture
Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention Address
April 22 - The Cultural Critique of Contemporary Democratic Capitalism
Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
Jerry Rubin, A Yippie Manifesto, 1353
Canvas: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Defining Deviancy Down”